This paper describes the overall structures and approaches used to develop course materials
prepared for the National Science Foundation’s Greenfield Coalition. These course modules
were developed in the areas of Measurements and Instrumentation. They are intended to fit into
the degrees offered at Focus: HOPE and the Greenfield Coalition. They are also intended for
dissemination and use by other universities around the world. Joint development with Greenfield
Coalition personnel is described using the Enterprise Systems Center Collaboratory at Lehigh
University. Two of the interactive activities are described in detail in the paper. The examples
chosen include a user interactive flash animation and an Excel file used to illustrate the concepts
of digital to analog and analog to digital conversion, respectively.

Introduction

Greenfield Coalition is a National Science Foundation supported coalition made up of university
partners, industry partners, and Focus: HOPE, a non-profit organization that offers many types of
programs to benefit society, including a teaching factory. While most partners are located close
to Detroit, Lehigh University is located in Bethlehem, PA. Lehigh has been a partner for 10 years
and has tested many educational philosophies related to distance education during that time.

The Greenfield Coalition learning system is predicated on the belief that students will learn faster
and will become more effective problem solvers if engineering education and practice are
integrated, and students actively participate in their learning1. Furthermore, students will benefit
in their study of core subjects such as math, physics, and chemistry if they better understand how
the material relates to their experience in the factory.

With this in mind, the topics of measurements and instrumentation were pushed to the beginning
of the curriculum, before or concurrent with physics and chemistry. Traditionally, the topics of
measurements and instrumentation occur later in the curriculum. This means that the material